What is this cable called?!

[Acanthus]

Ok there is a small cable that came from my DSL provider with my DSL modem, it looks like a normal cat5 patch cable, but only has 4 out of the 8 wires actually connected, this wire runs from the DSL modem to the Router/PC its connected to.

If i use Cat5 cable to link the modem to the PC/router i get no link lights and no connection.

Now the fun part of the story: I am currently in chicago on a family emergency and in a hurry i packed up my comp in the car and took this weird arse cable with me. Now i have family at home complaining because the internet doesnt work. I called stargate (my internet provider who was just aquired by earthlink, time to cancel) they claim this cable doesnt exsist.

Here is the numbers on the cable itself FC9660CB23

Both heads of the cable fit in the ports of ethernet cards. And its ovbiously Cat5 heads you can see the 8 gold teeth on each head of the cable. But internally there are only 4 wires connected that i can see. Looking at the bottom from left to right i have:

White with blue stripe
Blue
White with orange stripe
blank (no wire)
blank (no wire)
orange
blank (no wire)
blank (no wire)

Any ideas where i can get another one of these cables? Thx in advance for any help.

 

[rh71]

Can't say I know what it is, but IIRC, Cat5 cables only use 4 wires even if there are 8.

 

[guyver01]

Cat 5 is the type of wire... whether it's ethernet of phone, it's still Cat5.
it's probably RJ22... RJ22 is the only one i know that uses a 4-pin out setup

 

[ScottMac]

All UTP is NOT Cat5.

It sounds like a cheap Ethernet cable (1,2 & 3,6)... and an improperly constructed one as well. It should be the orange and green pairs (YES! it does make a difference, Dammit!).

There are lower Category ratings (Cat 3, 4) and some that's not rated at all (Like DIW - used (formerly used) to connect the demarc to the phone jacks around the house) or Silver Satin (the flat stuff, not suitable in any way for networking).

Any Catx jumper should work just fine (for 10 Meg Ethernet or DSL).

Good Luck

Scott

 

[Jombo]

it's just an ethernet cable. just like rj22 or phone line only uses 2 of 4 connection lines, you can get away w/ using only 4 of 8 avail connectors on a rj45. but like scottmac said, i think i can only do 10mbps rather than cat 5 rated 100mbps.

 

[Howard]

You should be able to use a normal one.

 

[NeoPTLD]

Originally posted by: Howard
You should be able to use a normal one.

Look at both ends. Do wires connect to the same spots on either ends? If not, I believe you have a cross-over and this will explain why a normal CAT5 ethernet cable won't work for you.

Look at the diagram meant for making your own cross over cable. Other than the color being green, it is consistent with what you're seeing.

http://www.johnscloset.net/wiring/crossover.html

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: NeoPTLD

Originally posted by: Howard
You should be able to use a normal one.

Look at both ends. Do wires connect to the same spots on either ends? If not, I believe you have a cross-over and this will explain why a normal CAT5 ethernet cable won't work for you.

Look at the diagram meant for making your own cross over cable. Other than the color being green, it is consistent with what you're seeing.

http://www.johnscloset.net/wiring/crossover.html

i was thinking crossover, ill take a look at the cable now.

Edit: it is in fact a crossover cable, ill have a friend of mine with a crimper make me another one.

Thanks guys.

 

Methinks it's a crossover.